I am not ready to blame Kelly for the quarterback situation. We really don’t know what’s been happening in practice. As mentioned in story #7, maybe it’s that Hendrix has big holes in his game. I suspect Kelly played Rees all year because he feels he needs to “win now” (I think he does), and Rees gave him his best shot at winning games right away, though it likely stunted the development of Hendrix.

I was at the USC game and it made me a believer in the idea (posed by Scranton Dave above) that this is the best ND team in a long, long time, with one exception. We’ve got a great team, but we don’t have a quarterback that can take advantage of it. Imagine either Brady Quinn or Jimmy Clausen with that offense, coupled with a defense that can get stops (I’ll tastefully ignore special teams, and I’m looking at you, punt return unit). Either of those guys with this offense could likely have gone 11-1, if not unbeaten in the regular season. Yes, there likely would have been a bump along the way, but we also likely don’t lose to USF or Michigan, and USC and Stanford become instantly competitive (both weren’t that far away from being competitive anyway, though Stanford was less so than USC)..

The biggest “if” on this team, both this year and next, is the QB. Tommy, God bless you for playing so hard, and for getting us a lot of wins, but I don’t think you’ve got what it takes to put us over the top. Please, please, prove me wrong in the Champs Bowl, but if the offense plays exactly like it did against Stanford (meaning poorly with Rees back there, and more effective with Hendrix), I don’t think we’ve got far to look to see the starting QB against Navy in Ireland (with Golston as the change-of-pace guy).

Go Irish! Beat the ‘Noles!

Damn it.